The Black Dahlia in Hollywood

____________________

"Your devotion is my most precious possession. Darling, how many lips have joined with yours since ours last met? Sometimes I go crazy when I think of such things."

- Gordon Fickling

"No, in fact,. she talked very little on the way in to Los Angeles and I wasn’t in a very talkative mood. I don’t know what was the matter with her. It didn’t make any difference to me. I was just glad to get rid of her.”

- Red Manley, Chapter 12

Lt. Jemison:

"Didn't Beth Short at one time or another indicate to you at least she wasn't fond of queer women, did she indicate that to you?"

Ann Toth:

"No, she always made the statement, very queer people in this town, queer people, referring to both men and women I guess. That is the only thing referring to queers that she ever mentioned, but I doubt it very much. Why did she go through the trouble of wearing falsies and all that, to attract a queer lesbian, because either they go for you or don't go for you, they don't care if you haven't any shape. As far as that goes, in my estimation, I think she was definitely out to attract men. I can't see anyway of her wanting to atract a woman, because I would definitely notice it. I have been around enough to notice it in this town -- I would notice it."

"I have no right to preach to you, Gordon darling, but you are missing so much of life. I know, though that you'll be happy some day soon, darling."

- Beth to Gordon Fickling

1940’s Los Angeles

Beth Short's L.A.

Fun Map

L. A. Greyhound Bus Terminal

Photo by Burton Frasher, 1947

S.W. L.A. Housing Tract

January 20, 1947

Crenshaw Manor

1947 Housing Tract

Norton Avenue

January 15, 1947

Newspaper Boy

Read all about it...

Elizabeth Short

Elizabeth Short

Elizabeth Short was often described as attractive or beautiful by those who knew her. She was about 5' 5" tall and weighed about 115 pounds, the ideal woman in the eyes of Broadway entrepreneur and nightclub impresario, Earl Carroll, who thought the perfect woman should be 5' 5", 118 pounds. She had dyed, jet black hair and wore heavy makeup. She had pale blue eyes and she liked to wear a flower in her hair. She had a bad cough and decaying teeth. She bit her finger nails, wore "falsies" and had taps put on her shoes. She dressed with care and didn't like to share her clothing with the other girls.

She mislead people and was secretive about her life, but she was most often thought of as a nice girl. She was known around Hollywood as Beth or Betty, and those acquainted with her, for the most part, spoke well of her after her death.

Investigators were not so impressed. They disproved rumors that she was a prostitute, but agreed that she was a moocher and walked too close to the edge.

Mark Hansen said she, "appeared to be a very nice girl," and "she appeared to be a more domestic type girl." He also said, "Well I thought she was fair looking, average. If it wasn't for her teeth, she had bad teeth. Other than that she would have been beautiful."

Hansen said, "I didn't like the caliber of people she showed up with." But he also sympathized with her. "I felt sorry for her. She said there was bad company over there [the Chancellor] and she couldn't stand it."

Ann Toth said there was "nothing malicious about her." "She had a lot of high ideas, that Betty, believe me, with her Boston family and all that stuff-."

Ann said she was fastidious about herself. "She was the type that didn't want anybody to touch her clothes and she didn't want to touch theirs. She washed everything, she was a very meticulous person."

George Bacos said, "As a matter of fact, for my part I tried to avoid her as much as possible. I was new in radio and made contacts, and she dressed kinda cheaply, you know, too obvious and everything."

John Egger, the head usher at the CBS studios in Hollywood recalled, "-we always notice a girl like that, she was a striking girl, with that raven hair, blue sweater or pink sweater, she more or less became a legend and when we saw her with a man we paid more attention."

She had a quiet demeanor and good looks, but apparently she was not a happy young woman. Her mother recalled "moments of despondency." Those who knew her in Hollywood noticed she was often frightened. Mark Hansen and Ann Toth saw it, as did roommate Lynn Martin and the Frenches in San Diego.

Matt Gordon

Major Matt Gordon, a young Army Air Force pilot during the war, was the man Beth hoped to marry one day. Beth's mother, Phoebe Short, said that Matt was "the only man that I know she loved."

According to newspaper articles, Matt's mother, Mrs. Matt Gordon, Sr, said her son told her the two met in Miami in 1944. Mrs. Gordon said that they met only once, but that they corresponded by mail.

Matt wrote a letter from India to his mother dated May 5, 1945, asking if she thought Beth really loved him.

"It kind of looks like she does. In 11 days she wrote me 27 letters." Mrs. Gordon later said she did not give her son advice, that she trusted his judgment.

Beth never saw Matt again. He died after his plane crashed in India on August 10, 1945.

Mrs. Gordon sent a telegram to Beth reading in part, "Matt killed in plane crash on way home from India. Our deepest sympathy is with you. Pray it isn't true."

The telegram was later found pasted in one of Beth's souvenir albums.

Mark, Ann & Beth

Mark Hansen, Boyfriend

In 1949, district attorney investigators interviewed Mark Hansen and Ann Toth separately. Theater impresario Hansen was a suspect early in the 1947 LAPD investigation and remained so long after.

Ann found a place for Beth at the Chancellor Hotel in Hollywood, without telling Mark Hansen. When he drove her home the night before she left town, Ann said he was "amazed, he didn't know what had happened to her, where she had gone or what had happened." Ann asked Hansen to get the address in Berkeley for Beth's sister, since Ann would be nearby in Richmond at the same time.

When he returned from dropping her off at the Chancellor, Ann said he didn't get the address. The next day Ann called to speak with Beth, but she had disappeared and left some of her things, because she couldn't afford the rent. Witnesses said she was scared before she left.

On January 10, about 11:00 pm, Mark asked Ann to guess the whereabouts of Betty Short. Ann replied, "Is she in Berkeley?" Ann said Hansen told her no, she went to San Diego.

Ann said, "Well, that is like wrong way Corrigan, headed for Berkeley and went to San Diego." Then, she said Hansen told her, "he got a wire from her. Then he said he got a telephone call from her and he said that she wanted some money to come back to Los Angeles. So, he said he didn't send her - he wouldn't send her any, and that he said that if she did get up here that she could come to the house and stay for a few days and he said that she had intentions of bringing my coat back to me, and I imagine she mentioned it over the telephone and so forth, and I lent her some money, I imagine she mentioned that, and that was just about all there was to it."

Then, on January 12, Ann said Mark's telephone started ringing continuously in the evening. When he answered it, the other party was silent. After about half an hour of the telephone ringing constantly, Ann told Hansen to let her have the phone. She took it in her room and the same thing happened for another half an hour.

Eventually, Ann told the silent caller that she was going to report the incident to authorities. After that, the calls ceased. The calls were made in "the evening of the 12th, I would say, between twelve and one o'clock," Ann said.

Investigators asked Ann about the movements of Hansen on the night of January 14. She could not recall, except to say that he was usually home by 11:00 pm. "If he went to the fights or wrestling matches or say whatever it was, he usually got in around 11 o'clock, ten, eleven." "But I couldn't tell you. I may have been out to four in the morning, I don't know."

Investigators went on to ask about his sexual conduct, to which Ann described him as "very crude. I wouldn't say rough or anything else, just crude." They also asked about his background and the claims he made to Ann about his medical knowledge. She said, "He claimed to have known something about the medical profession." She also said, "He claims to know how to perform abortions or something, I don't know." Ann added, "Of course, I never believed him anyway.

Investigators also asked Ann about how Hansen felt towards Beth. They wanted to know, "- did she go for him or was it a means to an end?" Ann replied, "Yes, I think, more or less." "A means to having a place to live?" they asked. Ann said, "Well, I guess she compensated to a respect. After all, he asked her not to go with other fellows, so she did likewise to him.

"But there was a little lopsided romance going on there at the time?"

Ann replied, "Yes."

Lola Titus

Brunette

On July 15, 1949, two and a half years after the murder of Elizabeth Short, Mark Hansen was back in the news. Strip tease artist and taxi dancer, Lola Titus knocked on Hansen's front door in Hollywood.

At some point, after he let her in, she took out a hand gun and shot Hansen in the back while he was shaving in his bathroom.

Hansen survived, but while being taken to the hospital, he called out for "Brown" to be called.

Several months later, a memorandum was issued by investigators, in an effort to explain "Brown's" identify:

Relative to Lola Titus, Mark Hansen was a victim of an ADW attach by a shooting which is of public knowledge. Mark Hansen had knowledge that Sgt. Brown, Homicide Division, had information relative to the record of Lola Titus and other information regarding her. While en route to the hospital in an ambulance he requested the ambulance attendants that "Brown" be called. He did not designate at the time by first name which Brown he wanted.

It has been ascertained that Hansen's motive in calling for "Brown" was that he was the officer in the police department most qualified in relation to Lola Titus to conduct an investigation into the circumstances. It was pure conjecture in filling in the details by persons unaware of the facts that caused the false rumor to circulate that Hansen had called for Thad Brown.

It has further been ascertained that Hansen was calling for Sgt. F. A. Brown and his motives in so doing were the same as any reasonalbe man would have displayed under like circumstances. Homicide Division was contacted by the persons of whom Hansen had made the request to see "Brown." Since at that time much work had been done in connection with Hansen as a possible suspect in the Short case or as having more information than he revealed, it was felt that Sgt. Brown would be the officer to whom Hansen would most likely make any statement.

Sgt. Brown was off duty on the day in question and attemptes [sic] were made by Homicide Division whether Sgt. Brown's neighbors could contact him. Contact could not be obtained and Chief Brown felt that since he was the brother of Sgt. Brown he would be the next best substitiue for Hansen to relate any information he might desire to give in connection with the Short case. Chief Brown, therefore, went to the bedside of Mark Hansen under the imporession that Hansen was seriously injured and had some statement to make. Chief Brown found that Hansen's motive in calling was as heretofore stated, that is that Sgt. Brown knew Lola Titus' background, etc.

Previous to this shooting incident Chief Brown had been furnished information by Sgt. Brown regarding Lola Titus and had seen a picture of her. Shortly after leaving the hospital chief Brown placed Lola Titus under arrest on a charge of assault with intent to commit murder.

At the time of this occurrence Thad Brown was Commander of the Patrol Bureau which handles all divisional vice activities of the police department. Since the information regarding Lola Titus previous to the assault on Mark Hansen had been in connection with vice activities in the Hollywood Division this information had been transmitted to the commander in charge of these operation.

N. T. G.

Nils T. Granlund

While many Black Dahlia researchers think of Mark Hansen when they hear of the Florentine Gardens, it was show promoter and producer, Nils T. Granlund that audiences associated with the club. Granlund, better known to Broadway and Hollywood audiences as "N.T.G.", and to friends as "Granny," operated the floor shows at the Florentine Gardens during the 1940's.

He was born in Sweden in 1890 and is credited with being the inventor of the modern cabaret or nightclub. His career in show business began in 1912 when Marcus Loew personally hired him to promote his stage show "Hanky Panky." Granlund had a 45 year career in show business. He referred to himself "as press agent, radio broadcaster, vaudeville impresario, and producer of night-club shows from Texas Guinan's blistering bistro to the Flamingo in Las Vegas." He either discovered or was instrumental in making famous such legends as Ruby Keeler, Ruby Stevens (Barbara Stanwyck), Clara Bow and Lucille LaSuer (Joan Crawford).

Granlund was a sailor and newspaper reporter in New England in his youth. As a reporter, he and Damon Runyon, Walter Winchell and Mark Hellinger were fast friends. Granlund once wrote of his nightclub days in New York: "Before this new industry was two years old I had produced a dozen or more shows in competing cabarets. At one time I operated in six different clubs simultaneously and all of these places were owned by gangsters." In the 1920's, when flashy nightclubs were the biggest entertainment in New York, Granny provided the girls for Ziegfeld's Follies, Earl Carroll's Vanities and George White's Scandal.

After providing the talent for so many others, Granny finally opened his own nightclub in New York on Broadway at 48th Street. It has been credited as being the first modern nightclub and was the model for all that followed. He opened the Hollywood Restaurant shortly after the repeal of the 18th Amendment and introduced a new era in supper clubs. One of his early discoveries was Harriet Hilliard, who later married Ozzie Nelson. The New York Daily Mirror wrote, "N.T.G. is the conceiver, inventor, and creator of modern night life. The Hollywood was the daddy of practically every cabaret in the business today."

In 1940, when Granlund began his association with the Florentine, Earl Carroll's nightclub and restaurant on Sunset Boulevard was the classy address. Granny once said, "the owner of the Florentine at this time was Frank Bruni, and the joint was flooded with red ink. He propositioned me to bring a show into the place and try to put it on its feet. It was a challenge, and the kind I have never been able to resist."

"The Florentine had never enjoyed a very high reputation. One reason, which seemed obvious to me, was the fact that the management would never pay salaries that would attract high-class entertainment."

"I agreed to go into the Florentine Gardens for six weeks, just to see what could be done. The six weeks stretched to six months to five years before I finally left. And in that time it made a $1,000,000 net profit."

In 1944, the nightclub was charged with hiring two 15 year old girls, the Stull sisters, Jean and Dean. Sugar Geise, wife of Walter Morgan, of the D.A.'s office and vice squad, was the lead girl in the Florentine Gardens when N.T.G. ran the shows. She said, "Nils only hired pretty girls. If you were beautiful and could move, that's all you needed." Sugar once said, "Listen, if I wrote a book I'd have to leave town."

The names of Ann Toth and Elizabeth Short are never mentioned among the showgirls at the Florentine. Ann, who was acting and modeling at the time, had a connection through Mark Hansen. Elizabeth Short also had the connection, but seemed to lack ambition or interest.

He put the Mills Brothers in the cabaret lounge off the dining room and soon moved them to the main stage when their popularity rose. He soon hired bandleaders Ozzie Nelson and Paul Whitman and entertainers Sophie Tucker and Harry Richman.

Granlund and Milton Berle did a comedy routine together in New York in the 1920's. In the 1940's, when both were living in California, Berle called up Granny and said he wanted to hold his wedding reception at the Florentine Gardens. By this time, both were established performers, but they ran through some of their old material at the reception.

Showgirls were his specialty and in the 1940's he had a chorus line that included future stars, Yvonne De Carlo, Marie McDonald, Gwen Verdon, Lili St. Cyr and Jean Wallace. The main dining room seated 600 customers, and with Granlund's expertise, the club was filling up most nights.

In 1946, the year Beth Short came to Hollywood, Granlund was the announcer for "You're in the Act," a CBS radio program that broadcast five days a week from the Florentine Gardens. He made three movies during the 1940's, including "Rhythm Parade, filmed largely at the Florentine. He also played himself in "Goin' to Town" and "Take it Big."

Granny's wife, Rose Wenzel, was an early Skouras brothers star in their St. Louis theater. The brothers went on to become the owners of more theaters than any other outfit in the world. They kept up with N.T.G. and Rose through the years.

After his engagement at the Florentine, N.T.G. continued his career in Las Vegas. In 1949, Moe Sedway hired him to set up shows at the Flamingo. In 1950, Granlund made his television debut in "Backstage with N.T.G."

Seven years later, in 1957, he died in Las Vegas after his taxi was hit by another car on the Strip near the Riviera Hotel. His body was claimed by former Florentine showgirl and friend, Yvonne De Carlo.

- Gus Topley

Cleo Short

Father

Cleo Short, the father who deserted his family in 1930, left his wife Phoebe and his five young daughters to fend for themselves when he disappeared from their lives.

He was born on October 18, 1885 in Virginia. He married Phoebe Sawyer on April 11, 1918 in Portland, Maine.

Cleo Short said he sent his daughter 200 dollars in 1942 to travel west and stay with him in his home in Vallejo, California. She took him up on his offer, but their relationship was strained and he told her to leave his home in January of 1943.

Father and daughter went their separate ways, but they both ended up in Los Angeles, just a few miles from each other. Cleo told investigators that he never saw his daughter again after she left his home up north.

"I didn't want anything to do with her or any of the rest of the family then. I was through." At the time of the murder, Cleo Short was living at 1020 South Kingsley in Los Angeles, one mile from the Figueroa Hotel. He was working at a refrigeration repair business on Santa Monica Boulevard, just east of Fairfax Avenue in West Hollywood.

Investigators had to search for Cleo after his daughter's body was discovered and identified. He was eventually found in his apartment on Kingsley Drive and was described as intoxicated and uncooperative.

"We went up there and first time we ever saw him, we knocked and knocked and knocked on the door, and finally aroused him, and we found him to be in a drunken stupor. Found wine bottles all over the place, he was very uncooperative, especially in view of the fact that after all, his daughter had been murdered."

They went to see him the next day and he described his relationship with her, saying in part, "he kicked her out because she was so dirty, and she wouldn't keep the house clean, she wouldn't cook his meals," the investigators said.

He refused to identify his daughter's body and did not attend her funeral.

"I want nothing to do with this," he said.

Cleo Short died in Los Angeles on January 19, 1967, 20 years and four days after his daughter's murder.

Betty Bersinger

Discovered the body

Betty Bersinger was the first person to discover the body of Elizabeth Short on Norton Avenue on January 15, 1947.

She told police her story eight days later after she made herself available for questioning at the University Police Station.

According to the Los Angeles Examiner, she recounted the morning to investigators:

"I was walking with my little 3 year old daughter, Anne, at about 10:45 a.m. the morning of January 15.

"We were going south on Norton avenue to the Leimert Park section, where I was going to have Anne's shoes repaired.

"As we passed that vacant lot between 39th street and Coliseum avenue, I saw the body about a foot or two from the sidewalk. It was lying face up- and I could see it was cut in two.

"I was so shocked and scared and so worried my little girl would see it, that I gathered her up in my arms and ran to the nearest house- it was a doctor's I think.

"After asking to use the phone, I telephoned the police. I don't recall whether I told the policeman with whom I talked that the body was cut in two. And I'm sure I didn't say whether it was a man or woman.

"But I told him exactly where it was and said there was a body there. I didn't say anything about thinking it was a man or that it was a drunk.

"My little girl didn't see the body. I made sure she wouldn't. I'm glad she didn't. We don't talk about the case in front of her."

Harry L. Hansen

Detective Harry Hansen worked the Black Dahlia case from Day One. He was on the scene at Norton Avenue on the morning of January 15, 1947 and remained on the case until he retired in 1968. He even received some 400 written "clues" from Dahlia obsessed people during retirement, according to a Los Angeles Times article.

The Times said Hansen was an entertainer before going into police work and continued "as a master of ceremonies for department function."

He started working for the LAPD in the late 1930's and worked his way up to Detective Sergeant and eventually taught homicide investigation to police offiers from all over California at UCLA.

Hansen retired to Palm Desert, California in 1968. In 1975, he served as technical advisor for the television movie, "Who Killed the Black Dahlia?". He was portrayed on screen by Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.

After a long career as a homicide detective, Harry Hansen died at 80 years old on October 9, 1983 at the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, California.

Ann Toth Interview

Ann Toth

In the first place, she didn't drink, she didn't smoke, because after all, living with her. I knew. and she always came in at a decent hour, 11 o'clock, or around there. She never came in later than that, and naturally if she was supposed to be sexy and do other stuff, there is a lot more that goes to it, rather than if a decent girl~ there is drinking, smoking, wining and dining, and a few other things that go with it. I don't think she was trying to be sexy ~ in a very innocent way (trying to put on glamour). In a plain way. Nothing malicious about her.

Muriel Short Interview

Beth's sister, Muriel said, "Mama had a premonition. Mama came home from work very tired and went to bed right after supper, but around midnight she woke with a cold chill. Mama told me she felt as if the blanket had been yanked off the bed. She went over to the window thinking maybe the wind had blown it off, but the windows were closed. Mama said she got a strange feeling. She knew something was wrong, that something had happened to Bette."

Lynn Martin Interview

Alias Norma Lee Myer

There are a lot of girls in Hollywood who could end up like Beth Short...Hollywood draws them from all over the country.

Hollywood is a lonely place when you come into it without home ties or friends and very little money. There are few places for a lonely girl to go except into a bar.

Girls pick each other up in a store or a bar and start rooming together like old friends. It doesn't matter if they don't know anything about each other. It's somebody to talk to and share the rent with- like Beth and Marjorie and I. Sharing rent means more money for something to eat or a new pair of shoes.

Even more important than food sometimes is having makeup and being able to keep your hair looking good, because if you look good, you can always get a man to buy you a thick steak, some French-fried potatoes and a cup of coffee. Nothing ever tastes so good- at first. But the guys you pick up all insist you order steak or chops, and you get so sick of meat- meat all the time, and after awhile you can hardly get it down.

You don't drink at first, because you don't like liquor. You don't like the taste. But you drink because when you're on a date in a bar you have to order something, and when you're out on a date the first thing is always a couple of drinks- and then a couple of drinks.

You're always lonely in Hollywood, even when you're out with people. They don't belong to you- those people. None of them really care what happens to you. Lots of times you can hardly stand the man you're with, but you can forget about that after a few drinks.

Lots of times the girls talk to each other about getting out of Hollywood and starting all over again. They're going back home, or they're going to get married to someone. Down in the heart of all of them is sort of a hazy dream about a husband and a house and a baby.

They talk about it, and they dream about it, but somehow they almost never do it. This life is like a drug. You can't give it up. It's not like having a nine to fiver. They can sleep late if they want- they're on their own time. And if they have family back home, they never want their families to know what kind of life they're leading- so if they write home, they make up stuff.

Most of the girls are pretty innocent and well meaning at first. The road downhill is gradual. They know their life isn't right, but after a while you take the easiest way.

Sooner or later they become pregnant, and many of them resort to an illegal operation- and sometimes some of them end like Beth Short.

Rejection

"When you mentioned marriage in your letter, Beth, I got to wondering about that myself.

"Seems like you have to be in love with a person before it's a safe bet. Infatuation is sometimes mistakenly accepted for true love which can never be.

"Love lingers on if properly nurtured, while infatuation is soon dispelled through adverse circumstances.

"I know whereof I speak, because my ardent love soon cooled off and left me wondering how I could have felt that way at all.

~ Stephen Wolak

"Darling your request impossible at this time, other obligations have me against a wall. Try to make other arrangements. I'm concerned and sorry, believe me.

"Honey, I'm terribly sorry about that wire you sent. Couldn't raise the money on that short notice. Glad you managed O.K. I want that picture of you very much."

~ Gordon Fickling

"Your letter took me completely by surprise. Yes, I've always had the feeling that we had a lot in common and that we could have meant a lot to each other had we only been together~"

~ Paul Rosie

"I'll never regret coming west to see you. You didn't take me in your arms and keep me there. You had a great deal on your mind and I was just an extra burden."

~ Beth to Gordon Fickling

"You say in your letter you want us to be friends, but from your wire you seem to want more than that. Are you really sure just what you want? Why not pause and consider just what you're coming out here to me would amount to? "In your letter you mentioned a ring from Matt. You gave no further explanation. I really don't understand. I wouldn't want to interfere."

~ Gordon Fickling

She spent all of her time "running around when she was supposed to be keeping house for me. I made her leave."

~ Cleo Short

"I didn't want anything to do with her or any of the rest of the family then. I was through."

~ Cleo Short

L.A. City Officials

Mayor: Fletcher Bowron
1938-1953

District Attorney: William E. Simpson
1946-1951

District Attorney Chief Investigator: H. Leo Stanley

District Attorney Investigator: Frank B. Jemison

District Attorney Investigator: Walter Morgan

LAPD Chief of Police: Clemence B. Horrall
1941-1949

LAPD Interim Chief of Police: William Worton
1949-1950

LAPD Chief of Police: William H. Parker
1950-1966

Chief of Detectives: Thaddeus Brown

Chief of Homicide, Central Division: Jack Donahoe

Detective Sgt., Central Division: Harry Hansen

Detective, Central Division: Finis Brown

D. A. Suspects

The district attorney's office identified 22 suspects in the murder of Elizabeth Short. The list included half a dozen doctors, medical students, a "queer woman surgeon," soldiers, working men and con men, and a night club impresario. The field was wide open.

(1) Carl Balsiger:

In late 1946, Carl Balsiger's residence was listed as 7424 W. Sunset Boulevard, near Gardner Street in West Hollywood.

He said he met Beth Short on December 6 at a real estate office on Sunset Boulevard and drove her to Camarillo, about 40 miles northwest, where he had business. He claimed that he brought her back to Hollywood the same day and that he checked her into a hotel on Yucca Street. Balsiger said he drove her to the bus station in Hollywood, where she was to catch a bus to the bay area on December 7.

Balsiger was from a "nice" family in Kansas City, according to the district attorney records, and worked as a salesman for Marwyn Dairy at the time of the murder. He also sold flour and syrup.

(2) Claude Welsh:

It is unknown if this suspect knew Elizabeth Short.

(3) Sergeant "Chuck":

The last name of this suspect is unknown;There is a Camp Cooke connection with Elizabeth Short.

(4) John D. Wade:

Wade had a Crown Grill connection with Elizabeth Short.

(5) Joe Scalise:

Joe Scalise worked at the Crown Grill across the street from the Biltmore on January 9, 1947. Two other employees said they saw Elizabeth Short there that night.

(6)James Neemo:

James Neemo was an usher that worked at the CBS studios in Columbia Square on Sunset Boulevard near Vine Street. He worked directly under head usher John Egger. Egger said he saw Beth "at least twenty times" at the radio studio. She always came alone, except once when she was with a man who identified himself with his badge as a Chicago police officer. Beth usually waited in line to see a broadcast, but this time she was allowed in with the man through a side door as a courtesy to the officer. He said she came to see the Jack Carson show on either January 2 or January 8.

(7) Maurice Clement:

Clement worked at Columbia Studios at the time of the murder. He lived in Hollywood at 1616 N. Normandie, apartment 107. His name was found in Elizabeth Short's address book.

(8) Unknown Chicago Police Officer:

A man accompanying Elizabeth Short to a radio program at CBS studios in January, 1947, showed a Chicago police badge to CBS employees. His identity was never established.

(9) Salvador Torres Vera:

Vera frequented Brittingham's restaurant in Columbia Square, but it has never been confirmed that he knew Elizabeth Short.

(10) Dr. George Hodel:

Hodel lived at the Sowden House in Hollywood and had offices in downtown Los Angeles. His home was secretly wired for eavesdropping some time after the murder. It was never proved that he knew Elizabeth Short.

(11) Marvin Margolis:

Marvin Margolis and Bill Robinson visited Mark Hansen's home "quite often," according to Ann Toth. She said that Bill was Marjorie's boyfriend, but on one occasion he attacked Beth. "This Bill Robinson tried to take advantage of her once and he slapped her in the face and threw her out of the car. She came home crying about that. I don't think anyone else tried anything."

Mark Hansen described Bill Robinson and Marvin Margolis, saying, "They had a lot of nerve, those two guys. Always had to chase them out." Concerning Margolis, Hansen said, "Well, I didn't pay much attention to his conversation. He was a windy blower. I had to ask him to leave there. I didn't want him around."

John Egger, who was 20 years old in January, 1947, described Beth to authorities, saying, "The thing sir, we always notice a girl like that, she was a striking girl, with that raven hair, blue sweater or pink sweater, she more or less became a legend and when we saw her with a man we paid more attention-."

(12) Glenn Wolfe:

Ann Toth did not care for Glenn Wolfe. She described him as a "Lousy character. I would say. One of the worst type." She said he was a "-sexual pervert, maniac, everything. I hate him. He even threatened to kill me once," "because I was going to turn him over to the O.P.A. He was putting four girls into a room, where there should have been two, for $5.00."

Wolf, according to district attorney notes, lived at 1617 N. McCadden Place in Hollywood, sleeping "in the N.W. corner room." Wolfe lived two blocks west and one block south of the Chancellor.

(13) Michael Anthony Otero:

Otero was identified as being in the company of Elizabeth Short on December 6. 1946, prior to her departure for San Diego. He was the only known person to have been with Elizabeth Short at the Biltmore Hotel, before her return to Los Angeles on January 9, 1947. He was known as "the teacher" by Ann Toth, and his Spanish book was found among Beth's belongings after her murder.

(14) George Bacos:

George Bacos was the head usher at the NBC studios, according to John Egger, the head usher at the CBS studios down the block. Egger said, "I don't like him very well. He is very conceited; I just don't care for him myself. Never very close to him, just speaking acquaintance."

Bacos lived at 650 S. Maltman in Los Angeles on January 15, 1947. He picked up Beth one night when he had tickets for a radio show. He said he was going to take Lynn Martin, but she wasn't home, so he asked Beth. They were too late when they got there, so he drove her out to the Sunset Strip, where, he said, they parked and talked for awhile before he took her home. He described her, saying, "She wore a black satin skirt with a sweater - a pink sweater. Always wore something in her hair."

Bacos claimed he was not attracted to Beth and often stayed away from her.

"I used to see her with a lot of people. As a matter of fact, for my part I tried to avoid her as much as possible. I was new in radio and made contacts, and she dressed kinda cheaply, you know, too obvious and everything. It was best for me especially. Where you would see her most was around CBS I couldn't afford to be seen with the wrong kind of people."

He told investigators he had seen Beth about twelve times. Bacos was also a friend of George price, who had photographed Lynn in the nude. He said he frequented Brittinghams, the restaurant in Columbia Square.

(15) Francis Campbell:

Campbell was on duty at the Crown Grill the night of January 9, 1947.

(16) Queer Woman Surgeon:

Elizabeth Short may have made contact with a female abortionist in the San Fernando Valley. There is no positive identification of this person.

(17) Dr. Paul De Gaston:

DeCaston was identified as an abortionist who practiced under the alias, Dr. C. J. Morris in downtown Los Angeles. He was tried for murder in 1934 and served time for performing abortions. His name and address were found in Elizabeth Short's address book after her murder.

(18) Dr. A. R. Brix:

A business card for Dr. Brix was found in the effects of Elizabeth Short after her murder. Dr. Brix said she visited his office once, inquiring about his charges for treatment of female trouble. He said she did not return.

(19) Dr. M. M. Schwartz:

Dr. Schwartz was located in the Cherokee Building on Hollywood Boulevard, less than two blocks from the Chancellor. Mark Hansen said he drove Elizabeth Short to Schwartz's office. The Doctor said she was a patient of Dr. Faught, with whom he shared a nurse in the Cherokee Building.

(20) Dr. Arthur McGinnis Faught:

Dr. Faught, who died in 1949, treated Elizabeth Short for a problem with her Bartholin gland, a lubricating gland in the vagina. According to Dr. Schwartz, Dr. Faught had lanced the gland several different times.

(21) Dr. Patrick S. O'Reilly:

Dr. O'Reilly was a good friend of Mark Hansen and spent time at the Florentine Gardens. He was arrested and convicted of assault with a deadly weapon in the sever beating of his secretary in a motel.

(22) Mark Hansen:

According to Mark Hansen, it was Sid Zaid who first introduced him to Elizabeth Short, when he brought her to his home. "I didn't know anything about the girl at all."

Hansen said, "The last time I saw the girl was when I took her to the Chancellor Apartment over there. I never seen her since. She never showed up after she called up and say she was in San Diego." She didn't like the Chancellor, he said, and that women were attacking her there, indicating they were lesbians. He also said she didn't like them.

Ann said that he thought Gordon Fickling was her killer. "He right away thought he was the one that did it. That is what he insisted upon."

Ann said that Hansen had a vacancy at one of his rooming houses around the time of the murder. When asked by authorities later, he couldn't recall if he did or not. They asked him, "Now, would you be willing to cooperate with the police department and the District Attorney's office to the extent that you would permit the labratory experts - crime lab of the police department to come out and check for blood in all the rooms of these two rooming houses?" Hansen replied, "Oh sure."

In January, 1949, Conwell L. Keller, a LAPD officer and former gangster squad member,testified at the Black Dahlia investigation. He was asked, if he thought he had a pretty good suspect "in Hansen possibly?" Keller replied, "Yes. He is mixed into it somewhere."

Female Suspects

"Police made a complete about face today in their efforts to find the torture-murderer of pretty Elizabeth Short, and began an intensive search for a woman, rather than a man, as the mutilator of the 'Black Dahlia.'

Former roommates of the strikingly beautiful 22-year-old girl were placed first on the list of those to be questioned. The decision to change all previous tactics of the week-long search came after a meeting of the city's top-ranking police officials which began last night and lasted well into the morning hours.

Prime suspect in the new drive is a girl roommate who disappeared Jan. 15, the day Miss Short's tortured and mutilated body, hacked in two, was found in a lover's lane.

Adding to the belief that the girl's slayer may have been a woman were two factors.

First, she was known to be in Los Angeles Jan. 9 without any luggage which would indicate she spent the week before she was killed with some woman who could provider extra clothing and makeup.

Second, police officials said they believed the killing followed a pattern of other horror-murders by women."

~ United Press,
January 21, 1947

Investigators asked those who knew Beth Short about lesbians, homosexuals or "queers," the term they used most often. They asked Ann Toth, didn't she "at one time or another indicate to you at least she wasn't fond of queer women, did she indicate that to you?" Ann replied, "No, she always made the statement, very queer people in this town, queer people, referring to both men and women I guess. That is the only thing referring to queers that she ever mentioned, but I doubt it very much."

They asked George Bacos, "Did you ever see her at any time talking to any queer women?" Bacos answered, "I don't believe I did, no."

They asked other witnesses similar questions, but were unable to make a connection. Ann, who found a place for Beth at the Chancellor, did not believe Beth was afraid of the women at the Chancellor. She said, When I first went there, there was an English nurse - or there was an English girl that worked at the Gotham, a nurse, two big Texans, two musicians, I think they were the ones that were dragged in for that narcotic thing. Betty called me and told me about it."

When investigators asked Ann if Beth was afraind "of those two Texans," Ann said, "She was afraid she might be implicated in it."

In Ann's estimation, "I think she was definitely out to attract men."

Hollywood 1946

Hollywood Addresses Known to Elizabeth Short in 1946:*

6303 Hollywood Blvd

6445 Hollywood Blvd

6611 Hollywood Blvd

6700 Hollywood Blvd

1652 North Cherokee

1525 North Vine Street

1627 North Vine Street

1645 North Vine Street

1744 North Ivar Street

6113 Sunset Blvd

5471 Santa Monica Blvd

6242 Santa Monica Blvd

5309 Melrose Avenue

5347 Melrose Avenue

The 1157 North Western Ave.

* As reported in the Los Angeles Evening Herald Express

Elizabeth Short’s Known Hollywood Addresses

Brevoort Hotel
6326 Lexington Ave.

Chancellor of Hollywood
1842 N. Cherokee Ave.

Guardian Apartments
5217 Hollywood Blvd.

Mark Hansen's
6024 Carlos Wy.

Hawthorne Hotel
1611 N. Orange Ave.

1946 Hollywood Boulevard Night Spots and Eateries

Blue Palm
6124 Hollywood Blvd.

Bradley's Five & Ten
6651 Hollywood Blvd.

Bole Inn
6357 Hollywood Blvd.

Chi Chi Hollywood
6315 Hollywood Blvd

Circle H
6747 Hollywood Blvd.

Florentine Garden
5955 Hollywood Blvd.

Four Star Grill
6818 Hollywood Blvd.

Frolic Room
6245 Hollywood Blvd.

Gordon's Cocktail Bar
6721 Hollywood Blvd.

Gotham Cafe
7050 Hollywood Blvd.

Hollywood Spaghetti Kitchen
6756 Hollywood Blvd.

Hoosin's Barbeque
6615 Hollywood Blvd.

The Jade
6619 Hollywood Blvd.

Mayflower Restaurant
6349 Hollywood Blvd.

Melody Lane
6301 Hollywood Blvd.

Melody Room
6624 Hollywood Blvd.

Musso and Frank Grill
6667 Hollywood Blvd.

New York Cafe
6413 Hollywood Blvd.

Palm's Grill
5931 Hollywood Blvd.

Paramount Kitchen
6517 Hollywood Blvd.

Pig & Whistle
6301 Hollywood Blvd.

Pig & Whistle
6714 Hollywood Blvd.

Ritz Restaurant
6770 Hollywood Blvd.

Robot Cafe
5903 Hollywood Blvd.

Seven Seas Cafe
6904 Hollywood Blvd.

Snow White Waffle Shop
6769 Hollywood Blvd.

Streets of Paris
6726 Hollywood Blvd.

The Susie Q
6700 Hollywood Blvd.

Victor's Kitchen
5940 Hollywood Blvd.

1946 Vine Street Night Spots & Eateries

Billy Berg's
1356 N. Vine St.

Tom Breneman's
1525 N. Vine St.

The Brown Derby
1628 N. Vine St.

The Hangover
1456 N. Vine St.

Hollywood Recreation Co.
1539 N. Vine St.

It Cafe
1637 N. Vine St.

Lloyd's
1600 N. Vine St.

Maison Gaston
1219 N. Vine St.

Mike Lyman's Hollywood Grill
1623 N. Vine St.

Mom's Hot Dog's
1607 N. Vine St.

Morocco
1551 N. Vine St.

Ontra Cafeteria
1719 N. Vine St.

Tip's
1716 N. Vine St.

Victory Spaghetti Kitchen
1640 1/2 N. Vine St.

Las Palmas Avenue Night Spots and Eateries

Mad House Cafe
1710 N. Las Palmas Ave.

Miss Ann's
1747 N. Las Palmas Ave.

Pep's Vesuvio Restaurant
1716 N. Las Palmas Ave.

Swing Club
1710 N. Las Palmas Ave.

Tasty Snack Bar
1718 N. Las Palmas Ave.

1946 Hollywood Boulevard Businesses

Barber of Seville
6256 Hollywood Blvd.

Betty Blanc & Co.
6340 Hollywood Blvd.

Broadway
6300 Hollywood Blvd.

Jacques DuBois French Gift Shop
6717 Hollywood Blvd.

Cory's Beauty Shop
6912 1/2 Hollywood Blvd.

Deardon's
6666 Hollywood Blvd.

Donna's
6515 Hollywood Blvd.

Embassy Modes
6376 Hollywood Blvd.

Foreman and Clark
6353 Hollywood Blvd.

Garland's Shops
6520 Hollywood Blvd.

Grayson's
6436 Hollywood Blvd.

Greene's Ladies Ready to Wear
6430 Hollywood Blvd.

Han Co.
6535 Hollywood Blvd.

Hollywood Book Store
6760 Hollywood Blvd.

Hollywood Gun Shop
6032 Hollywood Blvd.

Hollywood Magic Shop
6268 Hollywood Blvd.

Mayfair Gift Shop
6652 Hollywood Blvd.

Hollywood Men's Shop
6650 Hollywood Blvd.

Hollywood Treasures
6620 Hollywood Blvd.

Hollywood Typewriter Shop
6681 Hollywood Blvd.

Joyce Frocks
6400 Hollywood Blvd.

Junior Bootery of Hollywood Blvd.
6642 Hollywood Blvd.

S. H. Kress 5-10 & 25c Stores
6608 Hollywood Blvd.

Laurin's
6528 Hollywood Blvd.

Leed's Shoe Stores
6434 Hollywood Blvd.

Lester's Children's Shoes
6536 Hollywood Blvd.

Mcintosh Studio Clothes
6518 Hollywood Blvd.

Mandel Shoes
6540 Hollywood Blvd.

Mattson's Hollywood Army and Navy Store
6501 Hollywood Blvd.

Mayson Stores
6550 Hollywood Blvd.

Mimi's
6366 Hollywood Blvd.

Nancy's
6340 Hollywood Blvd.

J. J. Newberry Co.
6602 Hollywood Blvd.

Nobby Knit
6332 Hollywood Blvd.

Nobby Knit
6506 Hollywood Blvd.

Peck's of Hollywood
6408 1/2 Hollywood Blvd.

J. C. Penny
6751 Hollywood Blvd.

Pickwick Book Shop
6743 Hollywood Blvd.

Sally Lee Jr. Misses Apparel
6435 Hollywood Blvd.

Santa Fe Railway Ticket Office
6405 Hollywood Blvd.

Satyr Book Shop
6278 Hollywood Blvd.

Ruth Shack
6908 Hollywood Blvd.

Simon's Suit Shop
6806 Hollywood Blvd.

Slenderellla of Hollywood
6521 Hollywood Blvd.

Southern Pacific Company Ticket Office
6553 Hollywood Blvd.

Sporty Knit Shop
6426 Hollywood Blvd.

Studio of Flowers
6363 Hollywood Blvd.

Studio Men's Shop
6429 Hollywood Blvd.

Treasure Isle
6406 Hollywood Blvd.

Western Art Shop
6739 Hollywood Blvd.

F. W. Woolworth 5-10 & 15c Stores
6410 Hollywood Blvd.

1946 Hollywood Boulevard Jewelry Shops

Antin's Jewelers
6914 Hollywood Blvd.

Carlyle's of Hollywood
6529 Hollywood Blvd.

Christie Diamond Palace
6732 Hollywood Blvd.

Davis Jewelers
6622 1/2 Hollywood Blvd.

Drake Jewelers
6509 Hollywood Blvd.

Griss Jewelers
6317 Hollywood Blvd.

Hollywood Gift Shop
6558 Hollywood Blvd.

Hollywood Treasures
6620 Hollywood Blvd.

Roger Holmes Jewelers
6552 Hollywood Blvd.

Judd's
5502 1/2 Hollywood Blvd.

Kirman's Gift and Jewelry Shop
6613 1/2 Hollywood Blvd.

Kopman Jewelers
6504 Hollywood Blvd.

Lawson's Jewelers
6516 Hollywood Blvd.

Lloyd's Jewelry
5527 Hollywood Blvd.

Macy's Jewelry Co.
6384 Hollywood Blvd.

Mills Jewelers
6707 Hollywood Blvd.

Parker Jewelry Co.
6617 Hollywood Blvd.

Sallan Brothers
6552 Hollywood Blvd.

Schaffer Jeweler of Hollywood
6679 Hollywood Blvd.

Shaw's Jewelers
6670 Hollywood Blvd.

Mort Sillman Jewelry Shop
6623 Hollywood Blvd.

Strasburg's of Hollywood
6628 Hollywood Blvd.

Wm Stromberg
6439 Hollywood Blvd.

Waters Jewelers
6810 Hollywood Blvd.

Wentz Jewelry Store
6411 Hollywood Blvd.

1946 Hollywood Boulevard Theaters

The Admiral
6321 Hollywood Blvd.

The Apollo
55441/2 Hollywood Blvd.

The Chinese
6925 Hollywood Blvd.

The Egyptian
6712 Hollywood Blvd.

The Hawaii
5941 Hollywood Blvd.

The Hitching Post
6262 Hollywood Blvd.

The Hollywood
6764 Hollywood Blvd.

The Hollywood Music Hall
6523 Hollywood Blvd.

The Hunley
5115 Hollywood Blvd.

The Iris
6508 Hollywood Blvd.

The Marcal
6021 Hollywood Blvd.

The News-View Newsreel
6656 Hollywood Blvd.

The Pantages
6233 Hollywood Blvd.

The Paramount
6838 Hollywood Blvd.

The Vogue
6675 Hollywood Blvd.

The Warner
6425 Hollywood Blvd.

1946 Movie Releases

The Blue Dahlia

The Jolson Story

It's a Wonderful Life

Best Years of Our Lives

Notorious

To Each His Own

Three Strangers

The Big Sleep

My Darling Clementine

Great Expectations

The Killers

Gilda

Decoy

The Dark Corner

Spiral Staircase

The Razor's Edge

Ziegfeld Follies

Humoresque

The Yearling

Duel in the Sun

The Harvey Girls

Night and Day

Road to Utopia

The Time of Their Lives

Till the Clouds Roll By

A Night in Casablanca

Cluny Brown

Caesar and Cleopatra

The Stranger

The Postman Aways Rings Twice

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers

1946 Hit Parade

South America, Take it Away

The Old Lamp-Lighter

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah

Aren't You Glad You're You

You Keep Coming Back Like a Song

I Don't Know Enough About You

The Gypsy

Rumors are Flying

Oh What it Seemed to Be

They Say It's Wonderful

To Each His Own

Laura

All Through the Day

Laughing on the Outside

Five Minutes More

A Gal in Calico

All Through the Day

For Sentimental Reasons

Personality

Day By Day

Doin' What Comes Natur'lly

One-zy Two-zy

You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

Shoofly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy

1946 Radio Programs

Abbott Mysteries

Academy Award Theatre

The Adventures of Ellery Queen

The Adventures of Maisie

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet

The Adventures of Sam Spade

The Adventures of Superman

The Adventures of the Thin Man

The Al Jolson Show

The Amazing Nero Wolf

Amos 'n' Andy

Archie Andrews

Arthur Godfrey Time

Aunt Jemima

Believe it or Not

Benny Goodman Show

Bing Crosby Show

Blondie

Bob and Ray Show

Bob Crosby Show

Bob Hope Show

Breakfast in Hollywood

Captain Midnight

The Chase and Sanborn Hour

The Cisco Kid

The Dinah Shore Show

The Dorothy Lamour Show

The Eddy Duchin Show

The Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy Show

The Falcon

Fibber McGee and Molly

The Fred Allen Show

The Fred Waring Show

The Freddy Martin Orchestra

Gang Busters

The Goldbergs

Grand Ole Opry

The Great Gildersleeve

The Green Hornet

The Guiding Light

The Guy Lombardo Show

Hedda Hoppa

Helen Hayes Theater

Information Please

Inner Sanctum Mysteries

Jack Armstrong the All American Boy

The Jack Benny Program

The Judy Canova Show

The Kate Smith Hour

Kraft Music Hall

The Life of Riley

The Lone Ranger

Lum and Abner

Lux Radio Theatre

Ma Perkins

Major Bowes Amateur Hour

Metropolitan Opera

Milton Berle Show

Mr. and Mrs. North

Mr. District Attorney

Murder at Midnight

National Barn Dance

Nick Carter, Master Detective

Official Detective

One Man's Family

The Passing Parade

People are Funny

The Perry Como Show

Perry Mason

Queen for a Day

Quiz Kids

Red Ryder

The Red Skelton Show

Rin-Tin-Tin

The Romance of Helen Trent

Roy Rogers Show

The Rudy Vallee Show

The Shadow

Suspense

Tarzan

Terry and the Pirates

The Tommy Dorsey Show

True Confessions

True Detective Mysteries

Truth or Consequences

The Voice of Firestone

Walter Winchell's Journal

The Whistler

Young Doctor Malone

Your Hit Parade

Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar

The Black Dahlia

In Long Beach -

A Long Beach druggist and his son filled a gap in time in the Short girl’s life. This was the period July 22 to August 3 last year.

“She lived at the Washington hotel, now called the Atwater, at 53 Linden Avenue,” said Arnold Landers Sr., the pharmacy owner.

“She’d come into our drug store frequently. She’d usually wear a two-piece beach costume which left her midrift bare. Or she’d wear the black lacy things.

“Her hair was jet black and she liked to wear it high. She was popular with the men who came in here and they got to calling her ‘The Black Dahlia.’”

- The Los Angeles Examiner, 1947

When the young woman’s tortured and mutilated, naked body was found in a vacant lot in Los Angeles in 1947, authorities were stymied. They didn’t know her background, her age or her identity. With research, they found that the victim was 22 year old Elizabeth Short from Medford, Massachusetts. Like so many before her, she was looking for her place in the movie capital. She was a loner who walked the streets of Hollywood, relying on strangers and acquaintances for help. She was friendly, yet deceptive and mysterious about her past. As her story unfolded, those who knew her best found that she was not the young woman they thought they knew.

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 8th, 2008 at 10:38 pm and is filed under The Black Dahlia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

4 Responses to “The Black Dahlia”

Cary Ginell Says:
July 26th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
Loved your site! I was wondering if I could get a good quality scan of the photo of the El Capitan Theatre on Vine Street. I am writing a book on a record shop that used to be located in that building in the 1940s.
Italian Greyhound Says:
February 2nd, 2010 at 10:31 am
Italian Greyhound…

The Black Dahlia in Hollywood was a very useful read….
Richard O. Titus Says:
April 18th, 2010 at 6:01 am
Certainly an interesting narrative of Dahlia’s life and times – I’m a bit confused as to the source of this text and its author – Is it original to the site or is it drawn from a published source? I may have missed this identification but would certainly like to know more about how it originated
Jaqi Says:
May 11th, 2010 at 12:21 pm
The Washington Hotel at 53 Linden in 1946 is actually now called the Holly House. There’s an apartment for rent there. I live near there is how I know. Downtown is a very interesting part of Long Beach history. I love this website on her

Hollywood Hopeful

Elizabeth Short

Hollywood Hopeful

Beth Short, the young woman from Medford, Massachusetts, died far from home and family. She was a mystery to the public, to the people who passed through her life and to her mother and sisters. From a variety of sources, a picture of her emerges.

Phoebe Short said her daughter was a "good girl." At the time of Beth's murder, Phoebe said, "She was working in Hollywood doing bit parts for the movies until two weeks ago." She didn't understand why newspapers painted such a negative portrait of her daughter.

Beth's sister, Virginia, who lived in Berkeley, California, hadn't heard from her in "at least two years" when she learned of her death.

Ginny said "She was always being told how pretty she was and I guess it went to her head."

Classmate Clara Fisher recalled, "She was such a beautiful girl. I remember her very well because she was so popular and dressed exceptionally well."

Red Manley described meeting her in San Diego, saying, "She was such a pretty girl I stopped and raked up a conversation with her."

George Bacos said, "I didn’t want to kiss her because of all that ‘goop’ she used on her face. I’m used to nice, cultured girls.”

Roommate Linda Rohr said Beth wore too much makeup, "an inch thick."

Mary Unkefer of the Santa Barbara police department said Beth was, "very good looking with beautfiul dark hair and fair skin. She dressed nicely and was a long way from being a barfly." She also said, "She had the blackest hair I ever saw."

Inez Keeling, the manager of the Camp Cooke PX said, "I was won over at once by her innocence. She was one of the loveliest and most shy girls working for me."

Beth "had small, brown molelike freckles on her left arm and two faint small brown moles on her right cheek," according to a Santa Barbara police report. The Santa Barbara police recorded her statistics as, "5' 7"; weight 130 lbs.; complexion fair; hair black; eyes, hazel green; mole on face."

Camp Cooke employment documents showed her as "5' 6"; weight 121 lbs.; hair brown; eyes green; build, medium; scar on back; complexion fair."

Harold Costa rembered that Beth's friends, Margie and Lynn, said, "the kid was broke and hungry." They asked that she be invited along with them. Costa said Beth didn't join the others once because "her hair needed another henna rinse."

Twenty-three year old Freddie Woods of Chicago said, "Elizabeth Short was one of the prettiest girls I ever met, but she was terribly preoccupied with the details of the Degnan murder."

Dorothy French remarked, “There was something so sorrowful about her -."

There was, "nothing malicious about her," Ann Toth said.

The Players

Elizabeth Short

Roommate

Ann Toth

Roommate

Marjorie Graham

Roommate

Linda Rohr

Roommate

Lynn Martin

Roommate

Linda Rohr, Marian Schmidt

Roommates

Donald Leyes & Harold Costa

Hawthorne Hotel Friends, 1947

The French Women

Elvera and Dorothy

Phoebe Short

Mother

Joesph Gordon Fickling

Jul. 14, 1915–Nov. 3, 2000

Robert Manley

One time murder suspect

Mark Hansen

Murder suspect

Carl Balsiger

Murder suspect

George Price

Freelance photographer, 1947

Clemence Horrall

Los Angeles Police Chief

Harry Hansen

Detective

Finis Brown

Detective

Frank Jemison

Investigator

Camp Cooke Cutie

Betty Short, 1943

Happy Couple on the Town

Tim Mehringer & Beth Short

On the Beach

Eddie and Beth

Beth on the Beach

Beth Short

The Shorts and Robert Manley

Sister, mother, suspect

Elizabeth Short

The Black Dahlia

Elizabeth Short

at Marshall High School

Lola Tius with Thad Brown

The Lady in Gold, 1949

Chief Clemence Horrall

Chief of Police: 1941-1949

The 1949 Grand Jury

Souvenir Photo Folders

The Susie Q

Hollywood & Las Palmas

The Florentine Gardens

Hollywood Boulevard

Club Morocco

1551 N. Vine Street

Tom Breneman's

Vine Street

Tom Breneman's

Vine Street

Tom Breneman's

Vine Street

Menus

Mammy's

Beth Short, now serving

Gotham Delicatessen

Mayflower Shop

Musso & Frank

Hollywood Boulevard

Florentine Gardens

Hollywood Boulevard

Matchbooks

Bradley's 5 and 10

Matchbook

Pign' Whistle

Matchbook

Susie Q

Matchbook

Club Morocco

Matchbook

It Cafe

Matchbook

Streets of Paris

Matchbook

Crown Grill

427 W. 8th Street

Crown Grill

Matchbook

Florentine Gardens

Matchbook

Mike Lyman's

Matchbook

Tabu of Hollywood

Matchbook

Tom Breneman's

Matchbook

Club Zarape

Matchbook

Italian Kitchen

Matchbook

St. Clair's Restaurant

Matchbook

The Gotham

Hollywood Boulevard

Ashtrays

Tom Breneman's

Ashtray

Tabu of Hollywood

Ashtray

7 Seas

Ashtray

Mike Lyman's

Ashtray

The Dresden Room

Ashtray

The Brown Derby

Ashtray

Postcards

Mammy's Restaurant

Vanderbilt Hotel, Miami Beach

Greetings from Vallejo

Postcard printed in 1943

Camp Cooke

California

Elizabeth Short's Hollywood

Hollywood Boulevard, 1946

Hotel Brevoort

6326 Lexington Ave.

Brittingham's Radio Center Restaurant

Columbia Square, Sunset Blvd

Florentine Gardens

Show girls postcard

Los Angeles Union Station

Postcard mailed 1947

Thrifty Drugs

Post Office 1946

1615 North Wilcox Ave.

Apartments and Hotels

Cabin 7

Mecca Motel, San Diego

The Biltmore Hotel

Olive Street

Brevoort Front Door

Main Entrance

Hotel Brevoort Arch

Gardens

Brevoort Hotel

Home to Elizabeth Short

Hillview Apts

6531 Hollywood Blvd.

The Chancellor, 2008

1842 North Cherokee Avenue

Apartment 501

Chancellor Apartments

The Guardian Arms

5217 Hollywood Boulevard

The Guardian Arms

5217 Hollywood Blvd.

Cleo Short's Apartment

Photo courtesy of thela hun ginjeet

M & M Motel

10822 Ventura Blvd.

M&M Motel

Lynn Martin's Address

Clubs & Restaurants

Sheldon's

Linden Avenue, Long Beach

Tom Breneman's

Vine Street

Tom Breneman's

Vine Street

Earl Carroll's

Sunset and Vine

Florentine Gardens

N.T.G. Presents

Musso and Frank Grill

6667 Hollywood Boulevard

Steve Boardner's

1652 N. Cherokee Avenue

Carpenter's Drive-iIn

6667 Hollywood Boulevard

Harry Carpenter's

Sandwich sleeve

Pig Stand

Marjorie Graham serving

Breakfast in Hollywood

Ticket June 14, 1946

Earl Carroll's

Ticket November 30, 1946

Four Star Grill

Gloria Hattenberg serving

Steve Boardners

1652 Cherokee Ave.

The Cocktail

at the Biltmore

The Gallery Bar Black Dahlia

Biltmore Hotel Los Angeles

Studios & Theaters

NBC Radio City Studios

Sunset and Vine

CBS Studios

Columbia Square

El Capitan Theatre

Vine Street

Grand Opening

Crest Theatre, Long Beach,1947

Aztec Theatre

San Diego

Street Scenes

Hollywood & Vine

1947

Fletcher Bowron Site

Los Angeles Mayor 1938-1953

Mark Hansen's Neighbor

6044 Carlos Avenue

Camp Cooke & Vallejo

Camp Cooke Barracks

150 miles NW of Los Angeles

WW II Souvenir Pillow

From the Camp Cooke PX

Family

Mother and Daughter

Phoebe and Elizabeth

Virginia Short, 1938

Oldest Sister

Muriel Short, 1946

Youngest Sister

Short Sisters, January, 1947

Eleanor, Muriel, Dorothea

Notices & Documents

Joseph Scalise, Suspect

Employment Document

Booking Photographs

Santa Barbara, 1943

U.S.O. 649 S. Olive St.

U.S.O. Center, 1946

Nightclubs

Hollywood 1946

Marcal Theatre Special Pass

Mark Hansen, Proprietor

Norton & 39th

Hill's Street Guide, 1946

Jay Farber Associates

George Bacos's employer

Hotel Brevoort

Hotel Brevoort listing

Guardian Arms Sign

Leasing sign, 2009

Memory book

Beth's snapshots

Here is Dahlia's Belongings

Beth Short's personal effects

Address Book

And birth certificate

The Black Dahlia

FBI Files

Daily Police Bulletin

Information Wanted.

Detective Bureau Homicide Division

Harry Hansen

The Black Dahlia Files

L.A. District Attorney's Office

The Black Dahlia

19 year old Elizabeth Short

The Black Dahlia

...and company.

Jemison Memo

Re: Ann Toth

Citizen's Witness Plan

Route map

Hollywood & the Movies

The Radio Room

1539 North Vine Street, 1946

The Blue Dahlia

Movie Nightclub

Movie Poster

The Blue Dahlia

Movie poster

Rest in Peace

Oakland, California _________________________

The Black Dahlia in Hollywood

Links

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1940’s Los Angeles

Beth Short's L.A.

L. A. Greyhound Bus Terminal

S.W. L.A. Housing Tract

Crenshaw Manor

Norton Avenue

Elizabeth Short

Matt Gordon

Mark, Ann & Beth

Lola Titus

N. T. G.

Cleo Short

Betty Bersinger

Harry L. Hansen

Ann Toth Interview

Muriel Short Interview

Lynn Martin Interview

Rejection

L.A. City Officials

D. A. Suspects

Female Suspects

Hollywood 1946

Elizabeth Short’s Known Hollywood Addresses

1946 Hollywood Boulevard Night Spots and Eateries

1946 Vine Street Night Spots & Eateries

Las Palmas Avenue Night Spots and Eateries

1946 Hollywood Boulevard Businesses

1946 Hollywood Boulevard Jewelry Shops

1946 Hollywood Boulevard Theaters

1946 Movie Releases

1946 Hit Parade

1946 Radio Programs

The Black Dahlia

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Hollywood Hopeful

Elizabeth Short

The Players

Elizabeth Short

Ann Toth

Marjorie Graham

Linda Rohr

Lynn Martin

Linda Rohr, Marian Schmidt

Donald Leyes & Harold Costa

The French Women

Phoebe Short

Joesph Gordon Fickling

Robert Manley

Mark Hansen

Carl Balsiger

George Price

Freelance photographer, 1947

Clemence Horrall

Harry Hansen

Finis Brown

Frank Jemison

Camp Cooke Cutie

Happy Couple on the Town

On the Beach

Beth on the Beach

The Shorts and Robert Manley

Elizabeth Short

Elizabeth Short

Lola Tius with Thad Brown

Chief Clemence Horrall

The 1949 Grand Jury

Souvenir Photo Folders

The Susie Q

The Florentine Gardens

Club Morocco

Tom Breneman's

Tom Breneman's

Tom Breneman's

Menus

Mammy's

Gotham Delicatessen